Kapu, a Kenyan e-commerce startup, has secured pre-Series A funding to scale its operations in the east African nation bolstering its go-to-market strategy, strengthening its logistics network, and introduce new fintech features as well as expanding across Africa.
The funding round was led by BlackWood with participation from Giant Ventures, firstminute capital, Norrsken VC, Founder Collective, Hesabu Capital, and Base Capital.
The round follows an $8m seed round in 2022 to help Kapu reduce the cost of living for mass-market consumers by offering essential goods via its network of agents in neighborhoods which Kapu sees as as important for optimizing logistics and operations.
Kapu CEO Sam Chappatte, and a former Jumia Kenya Country Manager, hopes that Kapu’s micro-market strategy will help it build a new retail model for Africa’s mass market. Kapu aims to prove profitability before expanding city-wide and eventually across the continent.
Founded in 2022, Kapu is reportedly serving 100,000 households per month and processing 2 million customer orders annually. The firm aims to save African consumers $1bn over the next 10 years. The company was founded by ex-Jumia executives Mr Chappatte, Stanislas Barth and Meera Dhanani and is leveraging social commerce to overcome last-mile delivery challenges.
Other early backers in Kapu include Biz Stone, Ilkka Paananen, Tom Blomfield, and Alexander Rittweger who aim to help Kapu build a world-class platform like Meesho among others but the Kenyan market is awash with informal competitors working in the same micro-market with less operational expenditures and regulator scrutiny. Koko Networks which started a similar model for cooking fuel is eyeing the telecom market after years of operations as a clean energy provider in such areas.
Major retailers, mobility firms like Bolt and Uber and supermarkets are also getting inroads into last-mile delivery grocery delivery and Kapu is innovating where there is a very little addressable market due to Kenya’s super-reliance on Mama Mboga in the neighborhoods.
Kenyan startup GoBeba is also making inroads into the same market starting with water and gas deliveries.
